Impact Stories

Shahd Jabari (BA Economics ’23) managed to navigate the challenges of growing up in Hebron, a city where she experienced “daily hardships of military occupation, checkpoints, and closures,” by holding onto a dream. Her dream was to make her own destiny, and not give in to the tough reality of her situation. She directed all of her energy to doing what she could to make that dream come true. For her, the key was to get a quality education. “I held onto a dream: to pursue an education at a reputable university in the region. The American University of Beirut checked every box,” she says. For Shahd to be able to pursue the education of her dreams, she needed support which, luckily, she found.

Shahd is grateful to AUB for nurturing a welcoming environment that “made it the ideal place for me to spend my years as an undergraduate student. My years at AUB also helped me build a strong, international network of friends, all while living in the heart of the Middle East,” she says. Another “highlight” of her years at AUB “was my involvement in sports, particularly handball. I played on the varsity team and learned to balance academics with sports while becoming an effective team member.”

Looking back, Shahd, who is an associate consultant at a consulting company in the MENA region, credits everything she has lived and experienced since coming to AUB to the support she received from the university’s Financial Aid Office and from the donors who support the Dr. Saad Hamdi AlZaim and Family Scholarship, the OF Scholarship, the Kamel Abdelrahman Endowed Scholarship, the Catalyst Foundation Scholarship, the ASAI Scholarship, and the Abdulrahim Abuissa Memorial Scholarship in Agricultural and Biosys. “My journey from Hebron, to graduating from AUB, serves as a reminder that education, coupled with persistence, can transcend even the darkest of circumstances and pave the way for a brighter tomorrow in the Middle East.”